The Chutzpah Award
The Chutzpah Award, given to a person or entity that demonstrates gall, nerve, or audacity, had a few contenders this week. However, one person stood out from the rest for his sheer chutzpah. As chief executive of one of the most populated states in the nation, you would think that protecting the citizens of the state from a deadly virus would be a top priority. If you listen to the experts, the best ways to protect yourself from COVID-19 and the delta variant are to get vaccinated and to wear a mask inside public settings, which includes schools. What does this governor do? He bans mask mandates in schools, threatens to withhold funding for school districts that require masks, and prohibits businesses from requiring patrons to provide information on their vaccine status. The list goes on and on.
This governor’s strategy for addressing the worst pandemic in over 100 years seems to be, don’t take sensible mitigation measures to help prevent people from getting sick with COVID-19, but rather let them get sick and then try to treat them with monoclonal antibodies. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, monoclonal antibodies are an effective treatment for high-risk COVID-19 positive patients if given within 10 days of the onset of symptoms. Clearly, not a treatment for everyone. Wouldn’t it be better, governor, to do everything in your power to try to prevent people from getting infected in the first place? If you did, maybe deaths in your state from COVID-19 would not be at an all-time high this past week.
Congratulations Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for putting the citizens of your state, including children, at risk for illness and death from COVID-19 due to your policies. For this, you have received the inaugural Chutzpah Award.
Quick Facts
Afghanistan: However the Biden administration tries to spin it, the pictures coming out of Afghanistan showing people desperately trying to flee the country and escape Taliban rule are defining the narrative surrounding the U.S. military withdrawal from the country. As Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, wrote in Project Syndicate, the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan was “hasty and poorly planned” and will not only have local consequences but all “the grim aftermath of America’s strategic and moral failure will reinforce questions about US reliability among friends and foes far and wide.”
G7: The Group of Seven (G7) leaders will meet virtually today to discuss providing “humanitarian assistance and support for Afghan refugees.” President Biden has spoken with many of these leaders in the past few days to discuss the situation in Afghanistan, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, and the United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Biden Job-Approval Decline: According to a recent poll by NBC News, President Biden’s job-approval rating is currently at 49% among adults polled, with a disapproval rating of 48%. This is the first time the president’s approval rating has been below 50% since the start of his presidency. The rising COVID-19 cases and Biden’s handling of the situation in Afghanistan have impacted his numbers. Just 53% of those polled approve of the way the president is handling COVID-19 as opposed to 69% in April. Only 25% approve of the way Biden is dealing with the situation in Afghanistan.
New York State of Mind: Just after midnight Tuesday, New York Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul was sworn in as the first woman governor of the State of New York. Her predecessor, Andrew Cuomo, who was forced out of office after a scathing report concluded that he sexually harassed multiple women who were state employees, did not go quietly into the night. In a farewell address to New Yorkers yesterday, Cuomo said that the justice system is undermined when the government politicizes allegations and the “headlines condemn without facts.” He went on to say the report was designed to be a “political firecracker” and vowed that the truth would come out in time.
Approved: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave full approval to the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for individuals age 16 and over. The vaccine is still available for children ages 12-15 under an emergency use authorization. Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock, M.D. called the vaccine approval a “milestone” in the battle against the virus. With the FDA approval, more businesses, educational institutions, federal, state, and local governments, and other institutions are expected to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations. President Biden, in remarks yesterday, called on the private sector to “step up with vaccine requirements.” After the FDA announcement, the Department of Defense Press Secretary John Kirby said that DOD would update its guidance and require all service members to be vaccinated.
Countries to Avoid…For Now: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) expanded its list of countries to avoid traveling to due to very high levels of COVID-19. Added to the list are Haiti, Kosovo, Lebanon, Morocco, Sint Maarten, and the Bahamas. The complete list can be found here.
Global cases: 212,502,421
Global deaths: 4,440,932
U.S. cases: 37,935,465
U.S. deaths: 629,406